Topical Press Agency Medical Collection

We've uncovered a remarkable collection of more than 4,000 medical images, deep within the vaults of the Historic England Archive.

The images document health care from 1938 to 1943, and detail wartime hospital staff, patients, procedures and practices. Many of the images are quirky, surprising and emotive, revealing an extraordinary slice of 1930s and '40s Britain.

The caption on the reverse of the photograph reads: “Picture shows students receiving from Sister Tutor a lesson in bandaging, for which a life size dummy is used.” Atkinson Morley's Convalescent Hospital, October 1940. Source: Historic England Archive MED01/01/1037

The photographs in the collection are very well annotated, providing great insight into medical treatments during the Second World War. They feature hospitals and practices all around the country, from Liverpool to London.

Source: Historic England Archive MED01/01/0986a

The collection taps into the zeitgeist of the formative years of the National Health Service, capturing health care in the few years preceding its inception.

We showed the collection to four nurses who trained and worked in hospitals in the North West from the 1940s and '50s. Watch Dorothy, Audrey, Margaret and Jean's testament to the spirit of the age: